Chapter 1:

As promised another story to follow up my previous ones. So this one takes place after A New Beginning ( which takes place after The End Is Near). I hope you like it enjoy. Quick refresher of where the last left off: Everyone is back in the city after Korra and the United Forces put an end to an equalist uprising in the Firenation led by Amon's Lieutenant. Korra gave birth to a baby boy, Kaiden while in the Forgetful Valley in Hira'a.

A couple weeks had passed since Korra, Mako, Bolin, and Tenzin had arrived back at Air Temple Island. The equalist threat in the Firenation fizzled out, but eventually created a buzz in Republic City. There was much gossip floating around the city about the events that had occurred over the past months. Tenzin advised against immediately speaking out about it all. He felt everyone needed some time still to recuperate and adjust first. So everyone stayed relatively quiet despite the relentless press.

Things began to return to normal, or whatever the new normal was. Mako and Bolin had moved back into their apartment above the arena, but no one would ever guess it based on how often they frequented the Air Temple. Bolin would be returning to his post at the police station after a long conversation about his absence with Lin. Mako resumed his work and training with the United Forces in Republic City again while simultaneously trying to help Korra out with Kaiden. Korra found herself primarily managing her new duties as a mother. At the same time she was working on the speech she'd be giving to Republic City to address everything that had happened.

Mako flew up the stairs of the apartment, peeling off the jacket of his uniform and tossing it on the couch. He ruffled through a few drawers, chucking all of their contents aside until finding what he was searching for. His zooming pace startled Bolin who called after him, "Hey man...what's going on? Were you being chased or something, what's with all the rush?"

Bolin's inquiries momentarily went unnoticed as Mako continued his search. "Ah Ha! There it is! Yes!" Bolin now seemed even more confused. Approaching his brother more closely he watched as Mako fumbled to quickly open a wooden box. When he finally got it open he pulled out the stack of yuans within it and started counting.

"Whoa! Where'd ya get all that money," Bolin's jaw dropped at the sight.

"I've been saving up for a while now. But I gotta go," he said shutting the box and stuffing the cash into his pocket then heading for the stairs. "I'll see you later. I'll be a little late for dinner."

"Mako should I be worried," Bolin called as his brother bounded down the stairs.

"Nope not at all. See ya!" The door slammed shut causing Bolin to shudder at the sound. He looked to Pabu who had watched the whole scene unfold from the kitchen table. "Well that wasn't weird at all," he sarcastically said to the fireferret. Pabu squealed in reply, eyes still wide and cast on the stairs.

Korra carefully treaded her way up the stairs with an animal skin bag draped over her shoulder and another few bags of food in her hands. "Oh hey Korra, lemme help you with that," Bolin said reaching for the bags.

"Thanks Bolin. Where's Mako," she asked noticing how quiet the apartment seemed.

"Beats me. He came by earlier and disappeared in a hurry, he said he'd be a little late." Bolin omitted the part about the wad of cash Mako ran out with, unsure of what to make of it himself. He changed the subject. "So, how does it feel to be off the island," his words came out playfully.

She gave him a toothy smile as she made herself comfortable on the couch. "Feels great! Tenzin and my dad won't let me do anything! They don't really want me out in the city until I give this speech because of all the press and whatnot. I mean I get it, safety and all but man it's annoying. I think they knew I was dying over there so they figured I could use a break. That and Pema made enough food to feed the city and they didn't want it all to go to waste."

"Well lucky for us they did. And dear Agni bless Pema. Now it can really feel like old times." They both began reaching to pull the food out of the bags, organizing it onto plates. With the plates piled strategically with food, they set the table. Just as they finished and sat down the stairs began to creak as footsteps approached.

"Bro, you're back. And just in time."

"I see." Mako made his way over to the table hugging Korra and placing a kiss on her cheek. "How's it going Korra?"

"Eh," she said shrugging her shoulders. "It's going. Just glad to be off the island for a while."

"And how's Kaiden?"

"Good actually. I forgot to tell you when you stopped by yesterday, the doctor said he should be just fine now. Everything seems normal, so no need to monitor him as closely anymore."

"Well that's great!"

"Yea, I'm thinking about bringing him when I give my big speech in a few days. What do ya think?"

"What better way is there to tell the city you've had a baby than to show up with a baby," Bolin interjected excitably.

Mako laughed over his plate, "I don't think you can argue with that logic. I think it's a great idea." His movement sent the long slip of folded paper tucked in his back pocket sliding across the floor. He didn't notice at first.

"Hey, something fell out of your pocket Mako," Korra said as the paper skidded to her foot. She reached for it.

"Ooooh, what is it a love note," Bolin teased. "Let's hear Mako's inner deepest thoughts," he gestured for her to read it. Without even thinking Mako reached across the table grabbing it out of her hands and shoving it back into his pocket.

"Um alright not weird at all," she said sarcastically. "I wasn't going to read it anyway."

"Sorry...I just...it's kind of private." Private, Korra thought. Since when was Mako keeping anything from them? An awkward silence fell over the room as they all looked at the now wrinkled paper protruding from his pocket. He cleared his throat when the silence finally became unbearable. "So...um, how was your day Bo?"

Bolin was eager in response to the prompt, "Great Pabu and I have really been getting used to this whole bumming around thing since Lin wouldn't let me get right back to work after my extended hiatus to help Korra save you."

Korra peeled her hands away from her plate, rubbing them together uncomfortably. "Sorry about that by the way... It wasn't really one of those things I could have given you two weeks' notice for," she chuckled.

"Eh, it's all good it was for a higher cause." The awkwardness in the room had settled and dispersed and the air seemed to lighten in the time that passed after that.

A couple days later Bolin found himself in front of the police station again in full uniform. Breathing a heavy sigh in preparation ,he entered the building. Shoulders arched back and standing tall and confident he marched to Lin's office. The door was ajar and only silence escaped the room. Bolin gave an assertive knock before his entrance was approved by the chief.

She towered over the desk with her palms firmly gripping the edges. Looking to his right however he noticed an unfamiliar presence in the room. It was a young lady, dressed in the same official metalbending uniform, hers seeming to adhere more closely to the contours of her body. Her deep brown hair was collected neatly in a bun at the back of her head, while a few loose strands crossed her forehead. She kept her gaze on Lin and didn't budge as Bolin stepped closer toward the desk.

"Bolin. Good to have you back after your extended 'vacation'," she said gesturing short air quotes around the word.

He laughed awkwardly knowing BeiFong wasn't really one for humor. "Again chief, sorry about that. But it's good to be back."

"It's alright Bolin, I understand. Korra needed you." Her tone was more compassionate and understanding than he'd ever heard while on duty. But it reverted back to her normal commanding voice in an instant, "Just don't let this become a regular thing. I don't give special treatment. I don't care who your friends are." He nodded affirmatively. "In any case, I want to introduce you to your new partner Ela.

"Partner?"

"Well my police force did still need to function regardless of whether or not you were here," she said curtly crossing her arms. "Ela is one of my best metal bending students. She took over your position in your absence. And now that you're back, you'll be working together. So you two had better get pretty chummy."

"Chief," someone summoned from the main lobby of the station interrupting her.

She maneuvered around her desk rolling her eyes. "Good lord, what have these fools done now," she said barging out of the room.

Bolin cleared his throat looking to Ela. He could now see her trademark earth kingdom green eyes. "Well...um...hi. I'm Bolin if you haven't gathered that yet," he said jokingly. "Nice to meet you Ela." He extended his hand toward her. She took it firmly digging her own tanned hand into his as she forcefully pushed it down.

"Ok look, I'm not going to pretend I'm enthused about this partnership. I worked my butt off in training to get where I am, and did a perfectly fine job doing your job by myself while you were MIA. So don't get things twisted." Lin came stomping back into the room and Ela let go of Bolin's hand at the sight of her.

"What are you two still doing here?"

"Yea so like I said I can't wait to start working with you Bolin," she said changing the tone of her voice to a friendlier one as she walked out of the room. Bolin stood, dumbstruck as he watched her exit the room.

What just happened,he thought to himself.

Korra rolled out of bed exhausted to the sound of crying. Tussling her hair and lightly smacking at her cheeks to jolt herself awake she shuffled over to the crib that had been brought into her room since Kaiden no longer needed to be monitored by the doctors and healers.

"Look," she whispered to him softly as she reached for him. His cries stopped as his eyes landed upon hers. "I know you're probably a natural firebender and all so the morning sun is like your thing...but I'm a waterbender and I prefer the moon. This whole waking up early thing just isn't kicking it for me buddy."

"That's some top notch mothering there Korra," a voice called out. She turned quickly to find the voice. Mako was pressed up against the doorway, arms folded across the jacket of his uniform.

She laughed a bit in embarrassment. "And I see Iroh's been teaching you some top notch stealth. You know it's not exactly polite to sneak up on people," she replied.

He ignored her sassy snap back and started speaking again. "So are you nervous?"

"Nervous? Me? What, no! I've only been mysteriously gone from Republic City for some months in which I had a spiritual Avatar journey, battled a pop-up equalist rebellion, went into a weird coma, had and momentarily lost a baby and I've got to explain that to a city that's been flooded with rumors about it all. Of course I'm not nervous."

"Well I came by to kinda ease your nervousness...," he started, cautiously easing Kaiden out of her arms. "But it doesn't look like I'm doing so hot." She fell back onto the bed, burying herself within the sprawled blanket.

"There's just so much darn pressure," she murmured into the bed. "That's part of the reason I left in the first place."

"C'mon Korra you can't run from all your problems." He shifted Kaiden in his hold so that he was now carefully supporting him with just one arm. Then he peeled back the blanket Korra had cocooned herself in with the other.

"Well I can try."

"And exactly how well did that work out for you last time you tried it." She was silent, rolling her eyes in response. "Exactly. Listen you're probably the strongest person I know. You can get through anything. Don't let a little speech and press beat you down." She gave him a weak smile standing to her feet and walking to hug him.

"Well thanks for the pep talk team captain."

"That's Lieutenant Team Captain to you," he joked.

The streets were shrimp-sardine packed surrounding the City Hall building. People pushed aggressively past one another trying to get a good viewing angle. BeiFong's officers were strategically posted around the perimeter, responsible for crowd control. Bolin made his way to his station on the street level near the podium, where Ela was already standing at attention.

"You're late," she grunted harshly.

"I was with BeiFong," he replied casually. Ela simply ignored his excuse. A hard silence lingered between them before Bolin spoke up again. "Look Ela, I think we might have gotten off on the wrong foot last time," he said in his friendliest voice.

"You think? I honestly thought we established everything we needed to," she said beginning to walk away from him.

He reached for her arm, gripping it to pull her back and she hesitated. Her head whipped around quickly to where his hand was wrapped around her. Then her furrowed brows met his.

"Look I don't know what your deal is or why you hate me. But I'm not about to let you ruin the job that I enjoy or this important day for my friend because you have an attitude."

She wriggled her arm from his grip, huffing and storming a few feet off. He threw up his arms rolling his eyes and growling to himself, before he was interrupted by a hand grabbing his shoulder.

"Hey Bolin! Do you know if Korra's here yet?"

His response lacked his typical upbeat enthusiasm, "Yea. I was with her, Tenzin and BeiFong a few minutes ago inside."

"Thanks." Mako paused before continuing on inside. "Are you alright you seem a little down?"

"Just more police partner problems. Seriously this girl is like a mini BeiFong in training or something," he shrugged.

"Well don't let her get to you bro. You like what you do and you're good at it. That should be all that matters right?"

"Yea I guess you're right."

"I'm the big brother I'm always right," he said roughing up Bolin's hair getting a small laugh out of him.

"You should probably get going. I'm sure Korra's probably wondering where you are too." Mako gave him a final pat on the back of reassurance before heading into the buzzing City Hall building.

Korra stepped out of the building followed by Tenzin and the other council members, as well as Lin, General Iroh, Commander Bumi, and Honora, and Mako who had Kaiden stuck close to his chest. They each took a standing position off to the side as Korra approached the podium. She looked out to the audience immediately finding her family in the front. Next she noticed Bolin off toward the side standing at attention in uniform. When he noticed her looking his way he gave a supportive smile and thumbs-up. Her eyes then trailed the massive crowd after, and she paused to clear her throat before glancing at the draft she had written.

"Hi everyone," she started nervously. " A lot has happened in the past few months. And there's been a lot of rumors and speculation about it all. So I'm here right now to set the record straight and to be honest with you all about what's happened." The chitter-chatter that was rumbling through the crowd had ceased as everyone hung onto her words.

"Some months ago an equalist rebellion broke out in the Firenation. It wasn't clear how much of a threat this was at the time, but the United Forces were sent to monitor and control the outbreak." There were gasps among the crowd at the mention of equalists. " I had gone to the Firenation to help after having visions that the Forces would be in danger. There was conflict and fighting for a period of time until myself as well as the Forces and some of the great people you see standing behind me managed to stop this rebellion. In the process of saving the city I had gone through an Avatar-spiritual-coma-like state which resulted in our staying there for some weeks. The aftermath of it all needed to be dealt with and the city needed time to be restored to safety after these events which also contributed to the extended time we spent in the city. To further deal with my Avatar condition we traveled to another Firenation city, Hira'a for some time afterward where I managed to overcome the weird condition. During my time in Hira'a I also gave birth to my son, Kaiden." She gestured toward Mako who gave her smile. Then she stole a glance at Kaiden, who's twinkling ochre eyes coruscated back at hers. Whispering began again within the crowd but when Korra leaned into the mic once more it stopped. " Since then we have been back in Republic City and I intend to continue my Avatar duties here, keeping the city and the world safe and balanced." She stepped back from the podium signifying her speech had concluded. There had been a pause, followed by an eruption of yelling, screaming, cheering, and questions.

"Avatar Korra, Avatar Korra," a reporter called out. He spoke up louder when she acknowledged him. " Do you think there could be another breakout of equalists soon somewhere else in the world?"

"I highly doubt it, we questioned everyone involved and the leaders have been captured. So I'm confident it's finally fizzled out."

Another question," How does this breakout of rebellion affect us here in the city?"

"It doesn't now that it's all been put to rest. The city is perfectly safe." She pointed to the next reporter.

"How old is Kaiden, and why did you choose not to discuss your pregnancy earlier."

She stammered a bit. " He's about one month now. And to be honest I wasn't even aware myself for a while, then the equalist rebellion started up, so I didn't really have time to focus on that..." She was sure that wasn't the response they were looking for and trailed off. But at this point she didn't care what the papers printed, she knew her situation and that's all that really mattered.

"So the entire time you were fighting you were pregnant, wasn't that dangerous, how did that affect your son?"

"While I'll admit it wasn't the most ideal situation to be in, yes. But Kaiden is fine and doing well. He's been checked out by healers and doctors who assure us he's fine.

Shoving persisted among the reporters as they all fought to have their questions answered. Lastly she called upon a young woman who herself seemed to look like she was from water tribe descent. "I noticed you are wearing a traditional water tribe betrothal necklace." Korra's hand immediately found its way to the circular plate of her necklace at the mention of it. Does this mean we should be expecting a royal Avatar wedding some time soon," the reporter's voice was giddy and full of excitement at the thought. Korra was equally as excited about the possibility in her own mind. She shrugged and leaned into the mic, " Some time soon does sound nice…" she exchanged a quick smirk with Mako before returning her attention to the reporter. "We'll just have to wait and see…"

The Air Temple was quiet and the excitement had settled after Korra's address to the city. She roamed the halls hoping the movement would lull Kaiden to sleep. It didn't seem to be working though, as his eyes simply continued to wander about. She found herself outside of Tenzin's office space and noticed the cracked door. Knocking and gently pushing the door aside she entered to see Tenzin buried in paper work.
"Hello Korra...and hello Kaiden," he chuckled gently stroking the child's head. "I think you did a great job in your speech today. We were all very proud of the way you've handled all this."

"Thanks Tenzin that means a lot to me...there was something else I wanted to talk to you about though." He nodded for her to continue. "I've been thinking about this for a while now since the whole Firenation thing." She started shifting Kaiden in her arms as she looked for her words. "And I think we should let Asami out of prison."

Tenzin's head jerked back in shock, "But she was an ally to the Equalist revolution, not to mention she electrocuted you and Mako. Where is this all coming from Korra?"

"Well I mean the Lieutenant explained everything and how they brainwashed her. So technically the things she did weren't her fault, it was Amon and the Lieutenant controlling her. Plus since they've been in prison no one's been running the company and you know as well as anyone that Future Industries is a huge part of stimulating the city's economy. I don't go to your council meetings but I know the city's economy has been going downhill since the Satos were locked up. Cabbage Corps is big and all but it's nothing without Future Industries to compete with."

Tenzin could tell she'd really given this some thought. "This is true. I realize Asami was one of your good friends, but do you honestly believe she'd just forget about everything that happened and be back in good graces with you all considering everything that's happened since. You cannot fully believe that some of what she was feeling and those emotions were not her own harbored up feelings, merely enhanced by Amon's work."

"I...I can't say that I know for sure Tenzin. But something about it just doesn't seem right to me, like if she was brainwashed and basically acting as one of Amon's puppets is it really fair for her to be in prison? I mean you of all people are always telling me to think positively, and to look for the good in things and people and trust my judgement and what not. And I know Asami is a good person deep down otherwise she wouldn't have fought against her father and the Equalists with us for so long before."

Tenzin pulled at his beard, mulling it over before letting out a sigh. Kaiden's eyes had finally shut as his breathing slowed to a sleepy hum. Noticing Kaiden's sleepy form in Korra's arms, Tenzin spoke his next words more softly so as not to wake him again. "I'm glad to know that you actually listen to me when I talk to you instead of tuning me out. And I do think you should trust your instincts, but this is a very risky decision. I urge you to be cautious Korra, not only for yourself but for the sake of your friends and family too," he said gesturing to the sleeping Kaiden as an example.

She looked down at him considering how attached she had grown to him in such a short time. Thinking about the stress and heartbreak she endured for those few moments with him in Forgetful Valley before the Mother of Faces came to their rescue, she couldn't imagine anything happening to him again. And she couldn't imagine dealing with the stress of something happening to anyone else close to her if this didn't turn out how she anticipated. Tenzin was right this was risky business. "I know Tenzin. Trust me I do. But Asami was my friend too and I can't just let my friend rot in jail for being brainwashed. I think it's the right thing to do, letting her out. I mean without her father she only really had us, and letting her out could help her to see that again."

"I do see your point Korra but I think you should think it over a bit more, before you make any major decisions." She nodded affirmatively to his response before leaving the office, her mind now cluttered with a mix of thoughts on it all.

Well there you have chapter 1. I hope you enjoyed it so far. I've got a few ideas spinning around in my head for this one so review and comment please. And more hopefully soon.